Robin Heist, R.T. (R)(M) is Phoenixville Hospital's breast care navigator. Heist provides support, comfort, education and assistance including answers to questions and clarifications about treatment plans; assistance with scheduling follow-up services and specialist appointments; practical information about image recovery during and after treatment; referrals to support groups and access to information and videos on topics related to breast health and breast cancer. (Photo courtesy Chris Leman)

PHOENIXVILLE — Early detection of cancer is key to fighting the disease.

Phoenixville Hospital is using 3D mammography, state-of-the-art technology costing more than $1 million, that allows doctors to see signs of cancer more clearly.

The Selenia® Dimensions® 3D Mammography system has been in operation at Phoenixville Hospital and the hospital’s Mammography Suite in Limerick since December at no extra cost to patients. The former 2D machine was also a Selenia® model.

The 3D mammography system reduces the false positive diagnoses rate by 40 percent, according to a Phoenixville Hospital press release. It detects 40 percent more invasive cancers than the 2D mammography did.

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Director of Breast Imaging Services Dr. David H. Malamed said the technology is a “game changer” with detecting cancer and provides more peace of mind.

Malamed said, “It reduces the thought of something that is there that isn’t. We can find real cancers and spend less time running down something that isn’t real.

“With the older technology, potentially it would take longer to see the cancer,” Malamed said. “With the new technology, we’re able to see it a year or years earlier than the 2D. If we catch the cancer when it is smaller then we can deal with it before it proceeds to spread.”

He said the 2D machine typically produced just four images of the breasts from two positions: top to bottom and from side to side. Extra images would be taken if the women had bigger breasts. The new 3D system can produce up to 300 images, depending on the thickness of the breasts and is beneficial to women who have dense breasts. Dense breasts are a risk factor for breast cancer.

Malamed said radiologists still look at the 2D images for comparison to see if anything has changed since the patient’s last mammogram.

Breast Surgeon and Medical Director at The Breast Health Center at Phoenixville Hospital Dr. Bruce Weiner also sees the benefits of the 3D system with the detection and treatment of breast cancer.

“I believe that 3D imaging is a true ‘game changer’ in regards to detecting small cancers, especially in younger women and some older women with very dense breasts,” he said. “The cancers that we are seeing with this new technology are true invasive cancers with the biological potential to metastasize.”

“By picking up these cancers, most of which are quite small, we can offer women a better chance of being treated with a less invasive lumpectomy rather than a mastectomy,” Weiner added.

He said that the Breast Health Center works closely with the radiology department to ensure a successful biopsy is taken and that action is taken after an abnormal mammogram.

“3-D imaging is also resulting in less number of patients needed additional mammographic studies to questionable lesions in dense breasts,” Weiner said.

Phoenixville Hospital Breast Care Navigator Robin Heist is a breast cancer survivor and said she is excited the hospital is offering the 3-D mammograms.

When someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, Heist’s job is helping them understand the doctor’s diagnosis, assist with arranging appointments and answering questions about childcare, finances, etc.

Administrative Director of Diagnostic Imaging Services at Phoenixville Hospital Darlene A. May said when the Food and Drug Administration approved the 3D mammography system, the department of the hospital placed an order for it.

Other hospitals in the region do not have the 3D mammography system, May said.

All of the mammograms are analyzed at Phoenixville Hospital by board-certified radiologists from the University of Pennsylvania.

May said if something of concern is seen during the screening, the patient has the opportunity to get an ultrasound the same day.

Kimberton resident Beth Ann “Buffy” MacLelland recently experienced the 3D mammography system for the first time at Phoenixville Hospital. MacLelland said she hasn’t been anywhere else than the hospital for a mammogram.

She said a technician called her at home and offered the 3D mammogram to her. MacLelland was glad she had the 3D mammogram.

“The experience was better than the regular mammogram because there is less of a risk of having a scare (when there is no cancer present) and that was huge for me,” she said.

Daytime and evening appointments are available in Phoenixville and Limerick. Saturday appointments are available in Phoenixville.